Natsu no E
by Kanki
Summary: [AU] [Colloyd, Zeroshii] Picnics, beach parties, movie theaters, ice cream shops, and a little bit of romance sprinkled on the side—this is the picture of summer.
1. New Neighbors

**Natsu no E**

**Summary: **TOS AU Colloyd, Zeroshii Nearing the sixteenth summer of his life, Lloyd Irving considers himself your normal, average, everyday teenager. That is, until the ethereal Colette Brunel moves right next door.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Tales of Symphonia. What do you expect?

**A/N:** -sighes- Well, this is it; my very first fanfiction! Hello, my name is Kanki and this is my fanfic. It's an AU ToS fanfic mainly focusing on the Colloyd pairing. It's in Lloyd's POV and will stay that way through the rest of the fic. It was directly inspired by the wonderful story, A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks. That was the first book I had ever, ever felt warm and fluffy about. While reading it the second time around, I realized how much the main characters, Landon and Jamie, were much like Lloyd and Colette, and, thus, making a plot bunny like this. Well, I hope you like my first chapter; constructive critisism is loved, but no flames please Read on!

**Chapter 1: New neighbors**

The town of Iselia has always had its own little charm. It's a seaside town, isolated above the busy metropolis of Triet. Iselia was the kind of place where the humidity would rise up so high the children would dance around barefoot as they walked in the streets. The houses here were old yet simple, with dirty windows and white washed walls. The air held the rich smells of pine and salt from the forest and sea surrounding them. And, when you inhaled, the breeze was as crisp as salt air.

In spring, fields of flowers would bloom right next to the ocean, creating fields of different colors blended into one. In summer, there's enough shade to keep out the heat and the streams and small waterfalls nearby make great watering holes. In autumn, the wind gets cool and the leaves turn brilliant colors, also bringing mounds of leaves for the kids to play in. And in winter, the snow can go up to someone's knees and the sledding spots here are the best on the whole coast.

Not too many people lived in Iselia. After all, it's a quaint little community devoid of the hustle and bustle of the big cities such as Palmacosta. People would give a friendly wave to anyone who passed, regardless if they knew them or not, and children could wander off wherever they liked without fear of somebody kidnapping them. It's almost a magical sort of place, really. Life in Iselia didn't revolve around computers or televisions; the outside pop culture was practically nonexistent in this place. But, because of this seclusion, hardly anything happened; all and all, it was a pretty boring town to be in.

I've lived in Iselia ever since I was a baby. I've never known anyplace else. My house is right on the outskirts of the town, in the small cul-de-sac right where Iselia stops and the forest begins. I live there with my adoptive father, Dirk, and my dog, Noishe. It's nice there; no one really bothers us. We sort of just keep to ourselves.

Today was the last day of school. I woke up late this morning and had to run to school so I wouldn't be marked tardy. I live far away, but despite that, I had to walk here anyways, since my dad doesn't have a car.

The day was okay, though. Despite the bumpy morning, the rest of the day had been fairly smooth. Most of the teachers just droned on and on about how we should be careful this summer. Not as if I paid attention to their speeches. I just wanted to get out of here already! But, finally, it's nearly the end of the day and I was attending the last class of my whole school year—History.

I sat nervously in my seat, tapping my pencil against the desk and rocking back and forth in my chair. My eyes were glued onto the clock, watching the minute hand slowly inch its way towards its upright position. Come on, come on.

"Lloyd? Lloyd? Lloyd Irving, are you even listening to me?"

A chalk eraser hit me on the head and I winced, glaring at the woman at the front of the room. "Sorry Professor Sage," I muttered.

She huffed, placing her hands on her hips. "Thank you. Well, as I was saying—" That's Professor Raine Sage, the only teacher who actually tries to teach on the last day of school. She's actually a pretty young for a teacher though; she's only 23 years old. But, despite that, she still forces everyone to call her 'Professor' Sage instead of 'Ms' Sage. It's not like she doesn't deserve it. After all, she _is _one of the best teachers here at Iselia High.

I felt someone tap me on the shoulder next to me. I turned around to see my best friend, Genis Sage, grinning at me. "Nice going Lloyd," he sniggered.

I scowled deeply. "Shut it Genis!"

Genis Sage has been my best friend for most of my life. Ever since we were little kids, we've played together. He's actually younger than me, you know: about four years younger. The reason that he's in high school with me was that he skipped a couple of grades and ended up in mine.

The kid's a prodigy. A lot of hotshot academies out in the cities tried to recruit him for their school but he refused them all, partly because his older sister was teaching here and couldn't move away from her commitment. And his sister just happened to be the same woman who just chucked an eraser at my head.

"Now, I know you're all just dying to get out of here," Professor Sage said, addressing the whole class who had joined me in watching the clock. Oh, come on already! It's almost time! "So I'll just wrap this up right now: have a great summer." As if on cue, the bell rang, and everyone sprung up from their seats in an explosion of cheers. I shouted along with them, jumping up into the air and punching it. Yes! Finally!

Everyone stampeded out of the room, leaving only Genis and me straggling behind. "See you later Professor Sage!" I shouted as I paused at the doorway.

"Yeah, see you later Raine!"

"Wait, Genis!" She went up to him and looked down at the boy. Standing right next to each other, the two looked so very much alike: ivory colored hair and ice blue eyes mirroring the others. "I want you to go straight home today, alright? I'm coming home late today, so I want you to be home when I get there."

Genis scowled at his older sister. "Raine! I'm not a kid you know! I'll be fine!"

Raine shook her head. "Just don't forget this time." She nodded towards me as shooed us off. "Have a good summer Lloyd. No doubt I'll be seeing you around our house."

I laughed, sheepishly scratching the back of my neck. "Yeah, I guess you will. Bye Professor Sage!" Genis and I stepped out of the classroom and joined the stampede of summer-fevered students in the hall.

My friend frowned, kicking a wad of paper off to the side. "Yeesh, why does Raine always have to baby me like that?" he muttered, holding onto the straps of his backpack.

"Dunno," I shrugged, carelessly letting mine hang off of only one shoulder. "But I'm sure she doesn't mean it like that. She's just worried about you—Agh!"

Suddenly, an arm wrapped around my neck and a fist rubbed hard into my head. "Hey Lloyd! My little hot headed buddy!" I growled, trying to pry the arm off of me.

"Zelos! Get the hell off!"

The longhaired redhead behind me pouted, only drilling his fist harder into my skull. "Aww. Why should I?"

"Zelos!"

Now, Zelos Wilder isn't exactly what I'd call a friend. He's what I'd call a pervert and a stupid idiot. Zelos is an exchange student from the capitol city of Meltokio. Apparently, he has a very rich family and attended one of the hotshot academies that Genis was invited to. Why he ever wanted to go to this place out in the middle of nowhere, I don't know, but he seemed to have taken a liking to this small, rural town. Why? Mainly because all the girls here are smitten with him. To them, for some odd reason, he was 'hot' and he's gotten very popular because of that. But I honestly don't see it.

"OW!"

I blinked as the arm that snaked around my neck slithered off and looked at the young woman responsible for that. She held a large textbook in her hand, her chocolate eyes set glaring at the boy who held me captive.

"Zelos! Don't do that," she chided, shaking her finger.

"Sheeena!" Zelos drew out in her name in a long plaintive whine. "Did you really have to hit me that hard?"

"Yes," she huffed, placing her hands on her hips. I couldn't help but exchange knowing grins with Genis.

That was Sheena Fujibayashi. She's an exchange student from Meltokio as well; she came with Zelos and is currently living with him at a small apartment nearby. They do this a lot, this fighting. Although Sheena just calls it that, Zelos insists that it's 'foreplay'. (Whenever Sheena hears _that _little interesting tidbit, she'd run after him screaming) Zelos tends to be a big flirt with all the girls, but I see that he really treats Sheena differently. Genis and I have already started a pool on when they'd hook up. After all, their fighting, although not on the levels of foreplay, seems a heck of a lot similar to flirting.

"Thanks Sheena," I grinned towards the dark haired girl.

"Don't mention it," she said, glaring at the redhead beside her. "It's not your fault this guy's an idiot."

"Hey!"

Genis and I laughed as the four of us began walking to the exit. "Finally, school's over!" I sighed. "It took forever this year!"

"Really?" Sheena blinked. "I thought it went by pretty fast."

"Well, it's going to come back fast anyways," Genis commented dryly. "It's a few months till the end of summer break and that comes faster than you think."

I looked at my best friend dryly. "Study freak! You just want to stay in school all year, don't you?"

A flush raced across my friend's face. "S-shut up. At least I study!"

"Now what's that supposed to mean!"

"Lloyd! Genis! Stop fighting!" Sheena frowned, shaking her head. "Honestly, it's like I'm with a bunch of kids. Including you!" She said, glaring at Zelos before he could say anything.

The red haired boy merely sighed. "Well, I can't wait till school gets back in session either, brat." We all looked at him surprise. "Why?" I dared to ask. There was a gleam in Zelos's eyes as he placed his hands on his hips and laughed. "To play with my wonderful hunnies, of course! I'm going to miss them during the summer!"

We all looked at him dryly. We should have known.

"Well, we'll see you tomorrow at Marble's then?" Sheena asked as we stopped at the doorway of our school.

Genis and I nodded. "Yeah, we'll be there."

Sheena grinned and, with that, we split off our separate ways.

Genis lived about the halfway point from the school to my house; I always walked him home then split off towards my own house. We were silent for the most part, tired from the adrenaline rush from the last day of school. When we stood in front of his house, I waved goodbye as he jogged up to the front door. "See you tomorrow Genis!"

"Yeah, I'll see you there!"

I sighed slightly and started my way up the street. I was alone again—it's not like I minded though. I always was alone after I dropped Genis off at his house.

The whole neighborhood was bustling with children fresh out of school. Most of them were still dressed in their school clothes, their backpacks strewn over someone's front lawn. I couldn't help but grin when they bounced a bright red ball accidentally in my direction. I caught it before it could go anywhere and tossed it back to them. "Thanks Lloyd!" one shouted to me as he caught it.

"You're welcome!" I replied, continuing my trek home. About fifteen minutes later, I could already spot my house and the cal-de-sac not too far away. Smoke was coming out of my house's chimney: my dad was home. "Wait a minute…" I frowned as my house came closer into view. "Is that a moving truck?"

It was parked in front of the house right next door. People were walking in and out of it in a single file line, hauling boxes and other things inside. I couldn't help but stare as I slowly made my way to my house. Our neighbors moved five months ago to Triet. I guess they must have sold their house to someone else already. I stared at the 'For Sale' sign lying on the sidewalk, carelessly tossed away by some mover as he crowded the front lawn with stuff.

"Eeek!" Right behind some furniture pieces on their lawn, I heard someone stumble to the ground. I winced, hearing the large 'thud' that followed afterwards. Although I really didn't want to intrude, I dropped my backpack next to my mailbox and jogged over to where the person lay, face down on the grass. "Are you alright?" I asked, gathering the things that she dropped.

"Yes, I'm sorry. I guess I just tripped over my own feet again." Hearing her giggle, I looked at her strangely. She was a girl about my age, wearing a white blouse and a long light blue shirt. Pale blonde hair fell down to her waist and her eyes sparkled a brilliant blue. I felt numb for a second and I couldn't help staring at her as she stood up and brushed the grass off of her skirt. "My name is Colette Brunel. What's yours?"

"My name's Lloyd. Lloyd Irving," I said suddenly, snapped out of my trance. I stood up and placed the box of stuff onto a desk. "I live right next door."

"Oh? Is that right? Well, it was very nice for you to help me Lloyd. I'm sorry about this; I'm such a klutz."

"Don't mention it," I replied easily. "You know, you really shouldn't have been carrying that in the first place; it's pretty heavy."

The girl smiled, cocking her head. "Well, everyone else was helping to move in our things, so I thought that I should too. I'm sorry."

I stared at her strangely. What was with her? I sighed, "Please stop apologizing. Well, at least be more careful, okay?"

"Alright!" She beamed and picked up the box again. I moved in alarm when she wobbled for a second, but she caught herself and smiled again. "I'll see you later, Lloyd!" As I watched her totter off, I sighed. What a weird girl, I thought as I went to pick up my backpack off the ground. Hope I never see her again.

I didn't realize it then, but this summer would be the most eventful one of my whole entire life. All thanks to that girl, Colette Brunel.

**Cont.**


	2. The Dead Sunflower

**Natsu no E**

**Summary: **TOS AU Colloyd, Zeroshii Nearing the sixteenth summer of his life, Lloyd Irving considers himself your normal, average, everyday teenager. That is, until the ethereal Colette Brunel moves right next door.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Tales of Symphonia. What do you expect?

-----

Chapter 2: The Dead Sunflower 

The next time I saw her was right outside of Marble's.

Marble's is the town's local supermarket. Chocolat, one of my classmates, and her family runs it. It's been the town's most favorite hotspot, and our favorite hangout, for many years now. They've got everything anyone could ever want: food, accessories, and even a candy store for the kids to come to after school and just pig out.

The gang and I were just lounging outside of the store when I spotted her. She was crossing the street to the old flower shop, wearing the same clothes I saw her in yesterday. Zelos caught glimpse of her too and whistled in appreciation. "Well, well, who's that cutie?"

"Zelos!" Sheena hissed, bonking him on the head. The red head whined, shielding his head from any more blows. Genis, who stood right next to me, rolled his eyes.

"Honestly, Zelos. You're such a perv." My friend furrowed his brow slightly. "Funny though…I don't recognize her."

Sheena paused, tapping her chin with her finger. "Yeah…me neither. Is she new here?" I said nothing. I didn't want them to know that I lived right next door to her; probably because I would never hear the end of it from Zelos. Only moments after Sheena said that, the girl burst out of the shop carrying a pot with a dead sunflower in her arms. She looked positively cheerful, but all we could do was stare blankly.

Genis cocked a brow. "Is she carrying a dead sunflower?" he asked. I nodded numbly. "Yeah, she is."

"Well, now that my little cutie is here," Zelos began, flipping his hair over his shoulder. "I'm going to show you two how a real man gets a girl."

"Funny," Sheena remarked dryly. "I don't see any real men, do you guys?"

We laughed at the expression on Zelos's face as he gave an indignant huff and, trying to ignore us, sauntered over to the girl. "Well, hello there my little cutie," he said, leaning on the door post beside her. She looked up curiously, cocking her head at the boy. "I don't believe we've met before," Zelos said, flashing her a thousand watt smile. "My name is the Zelos. What's yours?"

"My name is Colette," she responded with a smile, not really taking notice of his flirtatious advances. "It's nice to meet you Zelos."

"You know, you look kind of lost," he commented. "How about I show you around the place?"

"Oh, that's okay," she replied with a cheery smile. "You don't have to bother; I'm fine on my own."

Zelos didn't look discouraged. "But I insist," he said.

"No, I'm okay."

Genis and I were almost already in stitches. Our red headed friend glared back at us, his green eyes piercing into our backs, but we didn't even notice; we were laughing too hard. Colette followed his gaze and, unfortunately, her eyes lit up at the sight of me.

"Oh! Lloyd! Good morning!"

I froze and felt everyone staring at me. Damn it! I hoped that she wouldn't notice me. I wanted nothing more to just ignore her and shrink away…but that would have been pretty rude. "Uh, hey," I muttered, looking down to the ground. I could already feel everyone's eyes boring into my side and I cringed slightly.

"You know her?" Sheena asked, blinking in confusion.

"Um, yeah," I replied sheepishly. "She moved next door to my house just yesterday."

"Oh really?" Zelos said in a suggestive tone, elbowing me in the ribs. "Lloyd, you lucky bum!"

"Zelos! Shut up," I hissed angrily, wincing in pain. Colette didn't say anything, but kept smiling at me.

"Are these your friends Lloyd?" She inquired, looking at Sheena, Zelos, and Genis inquisitively. I nodded slightly. "Yeah…that's Sheena, Genis, and Zelos."

"It's nice to meet you all," the girl chirped. Sheena and Genis mumbled a 'hello' under their breaths, looking down at their feet. Sensing the awkward mood, I was quick to change the subject.

"So, erm…" I began, looking at the flowerpot. "What do you have there?"

She looked down at her dead sunflower and beamed. "I saw this in the window of the flower shop. I was just supposed to shop around for some seeds for my grandmother's garden, but it looked lonely…so I bought it!"

"You do know it's dead, right?" Genis spoke up wryly. I elbowed him harshly. "Genis, shut up," I hissed under my breath, but, to my surprise, Colette merely smiled.

"Really? I don't think it's dead. Sure it's a little wilted…but that's because people neglected to take care of it for a while. With a little love, I'm sure it will be as beautiful as all the other flowers in the store."

I was befuddled at her odd logic. What's dead is dead; there was no chance for reviving that old, shriveled up sunflower. Whenever I'd pass by Mrs. Valentine's old flower shop, I'd always notice that strange, shriveled up thing in the window. It was always there, but I never did anything about it; I just kept walking. But, instead of saying that, I just nodded.

"Well, I'll see you later, Lloyd!" Colette chirped, shifting the plant onto the crook of her arm. "I have to get back home before Grandmother starts to worry. Good bye!"

"Uh, yeah, see you later," I gave a feeble wave as the girl skipped off happily with her dead flower in tow. How a girl could be ever that happy still escaped me.

"She was weird," Sheena stated bluntly.

"Yeah!" Genis agreed with a nod. "And that whole sunflower thing was creepy."

"Well I think she's pretty cute," Zelos drawled with a huge, exaggerated grin. "You're lucky to have _her _as a neighbor, Lloyd." He looked at me and so did the others. I cringed, silently wishing that I were somewhere else right now. I couldn't believe it! It hadn't even been more than a day since I've met her and she was already beginning to cause me trouble. Could my day get any worse?

-----

"Dad! I'm home!"

I kicked my shoes off at the front door as I entered, not noticing the extra slippers that lined our front mat. My dog Noishe bounded up to me enthusiastically, barking loudly as he padded around my legs. He was a big dog, almost the size of my waist, with soft white and green fur. According to dad, Noishe was discovered outside of the house not long after Dad found me. We had no idea what kind of breed he was, but we didn't mind much; it was fun to leave people guessing whenever we brought him out for a walk.

I grinned, leaning over to scratch him on the head. "Hey, Noishe. How's it going?" He whined, licking my cheek. "That tickles Noishe! Where's Dad?" Noishe whined once more as he led me out into the living room. There were two people I didn't recognize sitting on the couch, and one familiar figure sitting across from them on a chair.

One of them was a kindly looking middle-aged man and the other was a gentle old woman with a slight smile crinkling her face. They were listening intently to the story my father was telling them, nodding and laughing at the appropriate times. Noishe padded up to my father's chair and whined, resting his head on his strong, calloused hand. He paused his story for a second and looked behind at me.

"Lloyd!" He said heartily in that thick Irish accent of his. "You're home!"

Now, Dirk wasn't your average, everyday stereotypical father figure. He was Iselia's blacksmith; people all over town, even out of state, would come to him to get their jobs done, and Dirk would always do it with flare. That aside, normal fathers would be taller than their sons; when he stood up to greet me, he only reached up to my shoulder.

I never had any other family besides Dirk; he's been there for me ever since I was a little kid. He didn't look anything like me: his skin was deeply tanned, and his hair was rough and course, like the texture of his hands. He was short and stocky, and I was tall and lanky. But I still cared for him all the same.

"Yeah," I nodded, shoving my hands in my pockets, trying to avoid the unnervingly familiar blue-eyed stares from the two strangers. "Genis and the others had to do something at home so I just came straight back here."

"Good timing, lad!" He laughed, patting me on the back. "You're just in time to meet our new neighbors." Directing me towards the couple on the seat, he said, "This is Frank Brunel and his mother, Phaidra Brunel. They just moved in next door yesterday."

"It's nice to meet you young man," Frank said, shaking my outstretched hand. To my surprise, his hand was not as frail as I thought it would be. Off to the side, Phaidra cooed. "He's such a handsome young man, Dirk. You raised him well," she complimented with a large smile.

He laughed. "You give me too much credit! I did nothing at all except push him along."

"Yeah, very painfully too," I muttered under my breath; he caught this and punched me lightly on the shoulder.

Frank simply smiled at the two of us. "I have a daughter the same age as you Lloyd," he told me suddenly. "She's somewhere here…Dirk invited all of us to dinner tonight."

Oh, crud. No wonder they looked so familiar. I really should have guessed that they would have brought her too.

"I think she went out to see my workshop," Dirk replied, going to the back door and sticking his head outside to see if she was there. "Lass! Come back inside." Sure enough, as soon as he pulled back, the girl walked through the door, smiling at my father gratefully.

"Thank you, Mr. Irving," Colette said. She looked out to the living room and her eyes caught mine. Once more, I had the uncomfortable experience of having her unnerving azure blue eyes bore into mines. Another smile came to her face, but, this time, it was directed towards me.

"Lloyd! I was wondering when you'd get home," she chirped. Frank and Dirk both gave me odd, suspicious looks.

"You know her?" Dirk inquired, cocking a brow.

For some odd reason, I felt myself feeling an odd case of déjà vu. "Yeah," I sighed, "I helped her out when she tripped yesterday while moving some stuff inside her house."

"You tripped?" Phaidra exclaimed in alarm. The girl raised her hands to calm the woman down. "I'm alright, Grandmother. I didn't hurt myself at all. Lloyd helped me."

"Still," Frank chided, shaking a finger at her. "Didn't I tell you that those boxes were heavy?"

"I knew that, Papa," Colette insisted calmly. "I'm sorry…I just wanted to help."

Watching this scene with a blank expression on my face, I had no idea on what I wanted to say. They were making so much fuss over her tripping over something; it's not like she was hurt or anything. Well, at least it looked like she had control over this situation.

Frank wrinkled his brow stubbornly. But, with a steady gaze from his daughter, he sighed, letting his shoulders droop. "Alright. Just be careful next time, Colette." The girl smiled. "Don't worry! I will!"

Dirk cleared his throat and stepped up. "So, since you just moved in, I'm sure you'd be wanting a tour guide to show you around the place, hmm?"

"Well, we've really haven't much time to look around Iselia yet," Frank admitted sheepishly. "I've been too busy getting introduced at work, and Phaidra can't walk very well, so we don't have much time to be shown around."

"Papa," Colette spoke up. "If…Lloyd doesn't mind…could he could show me around town? You know, just so I know where everything is."

This was a startling request, coming from her. Why in the world would she want me to show her around? Dirk gave a hearty laugh. "Why, that's a great idea, Lass! I'm sure Lloyd wouldn't mind giving your daughter a little tour of the town, right Lloyd?"

He elbowed me sharply and I instinctively replied, "Sure, I wouldn't mind."

"Will you let me, Papa?" Colette pleaded, clasping her hands together. "Please?" Frank looked troubled for a moment and looked down at his daughter. For a split second, something passed between the two. I could only stare blankly as Frank smiled weakly in, what I believed, was his second defeat that night.

"Alright, Colette. You can." He looked at me and asked, "When are you free?"

I blinked surprised he even bothered to ask me. "I'm free tomorrow," I lied. I did promise the others that I would meet them later again at Marble's, but for some reason, I wasn't in the mood to meet them again tomorrow. Not after today.

"So it's settled then!" Dirk bellowed. "Lloyd will show Colette around town tomorrow."

"Thank you so much!" Colette clasped her hands together and beamed brightly. I looked down at the ground to hide the sudden blush that had spread across my face. What? Where'd that come from?

"Uh, yeah…" I muttered. "It's my pleasure."

Tomorrow isn't going to be easy, is it?

**Cont.**


	3. Tour

**Natsu no E**

**Summary: **TOS AU Colloyd, Zeroshii Nearing the sixteenth summer of his life, Lloyd Irving considers himself your normal, average, everyday teenager. That is, until the ethereal Colette Brunel moves right next door.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Tales of Symphonia. What do you expect?

-----

**Chapter 3: Tour**

The next day I woke up pretty late. I was having a weird dream where I was this guy who was out to save the world and stuff. Yes, weird, I know. But, I had to admit, I did have a lot of fun in this dream. Problem was, I didn't even know what time it was until I creaked open my eyes and stared at the digital clock beside my bed: 10:00. I remembered jumping out of bed so fast that I nearly fell to the floor tangled up in my bed sheets. Noishe stared oddly at me when I cursed in surprise.

"Jeez, Noishe! Why didn't you wake me up?" I yelled. My dog only whined in response, trotting off in order to avoid my wrath. I glared at him as he wiggled his way out of the room and I silently put a note to get back at him later on.

Untangling myself from the sheets, I yawned, stretching my arms above my head. Dad was probably out in town today. Although he usually stays in his workshop all day, he had to run some of his work down into town so he could deliver them to whoever asked for them. Must have left without waking me up. Subconsciously, I stared outside my bedroom window (my bedroom faced the streets) and looked for Dad. What I got instead was the sight of that girl standing outside of my gate, lounging about in front of the mailbox.

I dropped the curtains and drew backwards. What the heck was she doing here? I ran downstairs in big leaps and flung open the doors. Sure enough, there she was right outside of our gates, waiting patiently for something.

"What are you doing here?" I yelled.

She smiled. "Don't you remember, silly? You promised to show me around town today."

Oh…yeah. I did, didn't I?

Crud.

"Just wait right there!" I said frantically, slamming the door behind me. Crud! I totally forgot! I ran upstairs into my room, startling the freeloading dog that curled back up into my bed when I was away. "Get out of here, Noishe!" I yelled, shooing him out. I had no time for this! Sorting through the hurricane I called my room, I picked out a pair of decent pants and a shirt and shrugged them on. Bolting down the stairs, I flung open the door. She was still standing there, watching a butterfly flutter past her nose.

I sighed, grabbing the keys off the key hook. "I'm going, okay Noishe?" He whined helplessly, but I already knew what he was thinking: more bed for me. I grinned, patting him on the head, and shut the door.

"Um, sorry I'm late," I said, pocketing the keys after locking it. Colette looked away from the butterfly and then to me. "How long were you out here?"

"Oh, I was here since eight," she replied, waving goodbye to the butterfly as it floated off.

"Since eight!" I shouted in disbelief. "You know, you could have just woken me up instead of waiting two hours out here!"

She giggled. "I thought that would have been rude. I'm sorry."

I shook in exasperation. "Don't worry about it. Well, come on; let's go."

-----

Walking with Colette Brunel wasn't one of the most comfortable things I've ever done. Although I didn't want to talk at all, she kept attempting to speak with me, commenting on some random thing on the sidewalk or asking me a question about myself like: what's your favorite color? Or what do you like to do on the weekends? I answered most of them with as little words as possible, but she kept piling them on me to the point where I felt like I was going to burst.

"Look, can you stop asking me these questions already?" I asked about halfway to town. I could feel her looking at me strangely from behind (I didn't want to be seen with her, so I kept walking ahead so that it seemed like I wasn't walking with her or, best case scenario, she'll get the hint and go back home. Problem was, she kept staying close behind me, her footsteps always falling with mine)

"Why?" she inquired with that sugar sweet voice of hers. I winced.

"It's just…uncomfortable, okay?"

"Oh, I'm sorry," she sounded sheepish for a second. "I just wanted to get to know you better, that's all. I'm very sorry."

Hearing how guilty I made her sound, I gave another sigh, scratching the back of my neck. Now I was the one that was feeling guilty. "No, seriously. Enough with the apologizing. It's okay; ask as much as you want."

I could practically envision her smile when she heard this and, almost immediately, she continued with her onslaught of questions. I wanted to sigh again, but, for some odd reason, I felt a little happy.

Just a little.

-----

Town was already bustling by the time we got there. People were walking down the streets to get to work and tons of kids littered the sidewalks playing marbles and hopscotch. At this, I remembered that my friends were probably waiting for me at Marble's. I made a mental note not to go anywhere near that place today.

Instead, I directed her towards the opposite side of town, where I rarely went to instead. There was not much to see here. Not really, anyways. Just a few old movie theaters, a retirement home, and other stuff I really didn't remember. When we passed by the first little attraction, the _Golden Stars _movie theater, I stopped so that she could take a better look.

"This is the Golden Stars Theater," I said, looking up at the familiar building. It was far from Hollywood material. The theater was a shabby little place, with old worn carpets and torn tapestries. A pimple faced teenager lounged around in the ticket booth, her face stuck in a magazine and her feet propped up on the desk. The letters on the sign were at least a few years old and were beginning to fall off. It currently said: Movie Nig . Wa ch s me g eat m vi s. It was in a pitiful state. Even the posters lined up on the side of the walls were at least a few months in date, some of them already yellowed at the edges.

I remembered going to this theater when I was just a little kid; Dirk took me here to watch an old western cowboy movie, the clichéd ones that were in black and white and had the hero ride off into the sunset. I didn't remember what it was called, but I probably didn't want to remember anyways.

"It's not exactly the most glamorous theater here in Iselia," I began, my hands stuffed in my jeans pockets. "There are better ones closer in town."

"No, I like this theater," Colette replied. "It's very pretty. I should watch a movie later with my family here."

I blinked then checked to make sure that we were looking at the same thing. We were. This was the first time I actually ever heard anyone admit that this place was pretty. I guess it must have been pretty in some point of its pathetic existence. The carpet would have been sparkling new, clean and still smelling fresh of shampoo. The moody teenager in the front would have been a pleasant looking woman with a great big smile on her face, wearing a crisp uniform as she welcomed the hoards of customers inside. The sign would be lit up with unbroken light bulbs, blinking at random but timed intervals. And every night must have been paradise.

But, when I blinked, that picture vanished and blurred into the ruin in front of me.

"Whatever you say," I shrugged, forcing the thoughts back into my mind. "Come on, there's still more to see."

We walked further down the street and eventually stopped right next to an old retirement home. "This is Iselia's Green Acres," I said in a monotone voice. "It's a retirement home."

I remembered working at this place for community service one time; those three hours were hell. There were old people everywhere, all of them moaning and groaning on how their back hurt or cooing over their grandchildren as they showed each other pictures of them in their wallets.

This place was as cheesy as they came. The name just screamed it.

There were shuffleboard courts out back, though no one here really used them much at all. The cafeteria served the same mush that they called 'food' everyday for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, along with prescribed medication to those who needed it. It had a sterile, old smell that smelled fake and artificial, just like the nurses who attended to the old people with big, fat smiles on their faces when, really, they were just waiting for the day they could get out of that dump and get a real life.

Old people were sitting out on the front porch playing checkers. They stared at us as we passed, but only Colette was brave enough to wave back. As we passed them completely, she said, "They looked nice, don't you think, Lloyd?" I remembered all the times they had glared at my friends and me and replied, "Yeah, very nice."

A familiar tune filled the air as we went on and I paused, spotting a welcomed sight. "You want to get ice cream?" I asked, pointing to the ice cream truck.

"That sounds lovely!" Colette beamed.

When we got there, there were tons of kids crowded around it, all of them eating their ice cream. They were dressed in old, raggedy hand-me-downs and a lot of them didn't even have shoes. I looked to the house the truck was parked next to and sighed to myself. This was the orphanage. The tall, gray-blue building was built in an old Victorian style, very thin but sort of long. There was a stone porch leading up to the arched front door: a perfect place to leave babies in baskets.

"Why are there so many kids, Lloyd?" the girl next to me asked.

"This is the orphanage," I replied, pointing up to the looming building next to us as I ordered our ice cream: chocolate for me and vanilla for Colette. "The kids are allowed one ice cream a week and I guess today's their day."

The moment that we got our ice cream, a sudden wailing filled the air. I cringed; a boy must have dropped his ice cream or something. All the kids around the boy were staring sadly; they had all finished theirs, but he had just barely got started. A girl with light pink hair tied up in pigtails tried to comfort him, but he merely pushed her away and kept bawling. I grabbed Colette by the arm and began to drag her away from the scene. "Come on, Colette," I muttered. "Let's go."

But she stopped, and gently jerked her arm out of my grasp. Walking over to the boy, she bent down and placed a hand on his shoulder. He stopped wailing for a second to look at her. "It's okay," she murmured, brushing the tears away with her thumb. She handed him her ice cream cone, which she didn't even touch. "You can have mine."

He looked at her, then to Colette's ice cream, and then took it. "Thank you, lady!" He chirped licking up his new ice cream. Colette smiled then walked back towards me. I stared at her.

"You want me to buy you a new one?" I asked. She shook her head.

"No, that's alright." She looked over her shoulder where the boy was happily eating his gift while all the other kids were complaining that he got _two _ice creams this week and not one. "I'm fine."

It was noon when we passed by the town's church. It wasn't one of those old fashion cathedrals that barely held any light in them and were stuffy as hell, but it was a semi modern one, with open aired sides and comfortable chairs instead of pews. The bells were ringing and everyone was crowding inside. Colette's eyes lit up when she spotted the church.

"Oh, Lloyd! Can we attend mass today?" she pleaded. "I really, really want to attend mass."

I looked at the church and back at her. I didn't know she was religious. I shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

She practically cheered, then dragged me off inside, finding us some good seats near the back. I looked around nervously, hoping no one would recognize me with this girl. I normally went to church in the afternoon, instead of the noon masses. I didn't know if any of my friends went to noon mass.

As the music started and we were all forced to stand, I peered out of the corner of my eye towards Colette during prayer, and found her clasping her hands close to her heart deep in prayer, murmuring it quickly under her breath. I had never seen anyone pray like that before. There was truthfulness to it; it did not seem hollow like everyone else's prayers. I surely didn't pray like that, or sang the songs like she did, so loud as if no one could hear her. I never took church really seriously. I often had other things on my mind. I just showed up, but never took anything to heart.

During a song, I caught her swapping the word God with Goddess. I blinked and tapped her on the shoulder as we sat back down. "Why did you say Goddess?" I asked quietly.

She smiled. "I was always taught that God could be a woman. And it wouldn't be fair if I said God was only a man, right?"

For some reason, I had a feeling Sheena would have liked that; she was the kind of person who stood up for woman's rights.

-----

"Today was really fun, Lloyd! Thank you so much!" Colette and I were standing outside of her house. We had visited a few places after church and headed straight back home after that. I was glad that we didn't run into Genis or the others today; they'd probably be pissed off at me tomorrow for ditching them though.

I shrugged. "Don't mention it. Sorry I didn't get to show you the whole town. We sort of got sidetracked."

"Oh, I'm sorry; that was my fault."

"No, it wasn't your fault," I sighed. Quite actually, it was her fault, but I didn't want to say that.

"Oh, okay…I'm sorry!" She managed to wiggle in one more apology before trotting down her driveway. Her old man was already waiting in the front door for her, watching me intently with slight suspicion. I gave a feeble wave and he smiled, sending back another.

"I'll see you tomorrow Lloyd!" She shouted when she reached the porch.

"Yeah, sure!" I called back though, in the back of my mind, I highly doubted it. Going back to my house, I unlocked the doors and staggered onto the living room couch, not even bothering to call out my usual: 'I'm home!' Noishe trotted up to me and nudged my hand, whining softly.

I smiled weakly, patting him on the head. "Not now, Noishe. I'm tired." The dog gave me a confused look and whined once more, but I couldn't hear him.

I was already asleep.

**Cont.**


	4. Friends

**Natsu no E**

**Summary: **TOS AU Colloyd, Zeroshii Nearing the sixteenth summer of his life, Lloyd Irving considers himself your normal, average, everyday teenager. That is, until the ethereal Colette Brunel moves right next door.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Tales of Symphonia.

-----

**Chapter 4: Friends**

"Where were you yesterday, Lloyd?" Genis asked the next day in front of Marble's. We were all eating some Popsicles that we had bought from the store; it was a hot day, and it wasn't long before the Popsicles started melting on us, the sticky juices trickling down to our hands.

"Yeah, we didn't see you at all," Sheena agreed with a nod.

I frowned slightly. I was hoping that they weren't going to ask me anything about me not being there yesterday. "Remember that girl we met the day after we were let out of school?" I asked them, knowing that I wouldn't be able to escape it for much longer.

"I remember her," Zelos said with a smug looking smirk. He took a bite out of his Popsicle and chewed on it as he thought back. "Man, she was a cutie," he sighed.

"Too bad she rejected you," Genis said with a slight sneer, earning a glare from the older boy.

"Shut it brat."

"Well, anyways!" I raised my voice so that they would stop chatting amongst themselves. They stopped, and I coughed nervously. "Later that day, she and her family came over to my house for dinner. She wanted someone to show her around town and she kind of volunteered me to be her tour guide. I was showing her around yesterday."

"Really?" Genis asked with sudden interest. "Where did you take her?"

I shrugged. "Took her on the far side of town, where Golden Stars Theater was. I kind of figured that she knew a bit of the main streets, so I figured to take her somewhere else."

"Oh, really?" Zelos asked with a wide grin. "A theater, eh? Lloyd, you sly dog."

A rapid blush spread quickly across my face like wild fire. "I don't even want to know what _you're _thinking, you pervert!" I scowled, crossing my arms. "I don't know what you use a theater for, but all we did was talk; we didn't even go inside."

"Lloyd, Lloyd, Lloyd," he shook his head and casually draped an arm around my shoulders. "There are tons of things for you to do with a girl in a theater. Why, just yesterday, I—"

"Zeloooossssss…" Sheena fumed. She held up her fist in warning and Zelos backed away with a sheepish look on his face. She turned to me, her face glowing a bright red. "Just ignore him. We all know you wouldn't do anything like that. RIGHT?" The girl sent a glare over at Zelos, who merely nodded.

"Yes, my beloved banshee. We all know boring little Lloyd wouldn't do anything like that," he joked.

"What did you call me!" Sheena roared. Zelos laughed and ran off with the angry chocolate-eyed girl right on his tail.

I sighed, tossing my Popsicle stick in the trash. "You know, it's sort of obvious that they like each other. I mean, come on, they fight so much it's as if they're a married couple. Too bad that they're too stubborn to admit it."

"Really?" Genis asked as we stepped off of the sidewalk and following Sheena and Zelos out into the streets. "Because…" he began with a sly grin on his face. "I got the impression that Sheena really likes _you._"

I scoffed, jamming my hands inside of my pockets. "No way! She's just a good friend," I replied with a slight scowl. "She doesn't think of me that way at all."

"I dunno…" Genis said, trailing off.

We walked down the street and watched as Sheena finally caught up to Zelos. She laughed when the boy began pleading for mercy, curled up on the ground and trying to avoid her kicks. Spotting me, she held up a victory sign, a huge grin on her dirt smudged face. I blinked and slight warmth came to my cheeks.

"It sure doesn't seem that way," Genis finished only seconds later.

-----

"So where do you guys want to go next?" Sheena asked us as we walked past the kindergarten that lay just a few blocks from our school.

I shrugged. "Don't know. How about the beach?"

"But we don't have our swimsuits!" Genis protested with a frown. "How do you expect us to swim without swimsuits?"

"We can always swim with what we're wearing now," Zelos said suggestively, eying Sheena. The girl fumed, raising her fist. "You want me to hit you again?"

The red head laughed sheepishly, holding his palms up in surrender. "No, no. That's okay."

Sighing, I said, "How about we go to the park? There's always something good to do there." This time, everyone agreed.

The park wasn't the biggest thing in the world; with the whole forest around us and the beach at our backs, the town officials figured that they really didn't need a park at all. We already had enough nature to deal with already. It was about the size of our high school, not including the track field we shared with the middle school across the street. There were a decent amount of small hills for picnics during spring and sledding for winter, and a lot of trees to make leaves for autumn.

A small playground sat near the northwest entrance of the park. It had the basics: a plastic play set, metal slides, see saws, and, my personal favorite, swings. Normally it would be crowded with little kids. But only a few toddlers were playing there today, with their mothers watching over them like hawks.

I paused as we passed, watching the little kids run around the monkey bars with smiles on their chubby little faces. Genis and I had met on that very same playground when we were only little kids. It had been such a long time ago, but I could still remember it as clear as day.

"_Hah! You little runt! Take this!"_

"_This will teach you to mess with us!"_

"_Hey! Back off!" I stepped between the boy curled up into a ball on the ground and the bullies. "He didn't do anything to you!"_

"_Well if it isn't Irving," spat the leader: a real nasty kid named Forcystus. He was five years older than me and much bigger. "Meddling little runt. Now run along and let the big kids continue their work."_

"_No!" I said defiantly. "I won't let you hurt him anymore!"_

"_Oh really?" Forcystus sneered. He looked back to his gang, a bunch of middle schoolers named the Desians, and smirked. "Should we listen to him gang?"_

_A chorus of 'no's filled the air. At this, the older kid shrugged carelessly. "Well, majority rule. Get him!"_

I gingerly touched my cheek, remembering the blows that Forcystus and his gang had landed on me. There were so many of them…I still had a scar behind my ear because of that day. After a while of punching me, they got tired of me and left, leaving me alone with Genis.

"_Hey, you okay kid?"_

_The kid on the ground looked at me and nodded numbly. "Yeah, I'm fine…but are you okay?"_

_I grinned, despite the throbbing in my cheeks. "Yup! It doesn't even hurt." Of course I was lying; it hurt like hell. My nose was bleeding and I was sure my face was going to be purple for a whole week. But I didn't want to seem weak._

"_You didn't have to stand up for me you know," he muttered._

"_Of course I had to!" I protested, startling the boy. "If I didn't, those bullies would have creamed you!" I paused. "What in the world did you do, anyways?"_

"_I accidentally threw a ball at the blue haired guy's head," he replied sheepishly. "I didn't mean to! It's just an accident!"_

"_I believe you," I said, helping him up. "My name's Lloyd. What's yours?"_

"_G-genis. It's nice to meet you, Lloyd," he stuttered. "You know…that was pretty cool of you…standing up for me back there."_

_I grinned. "You think so? Well, nice to meet you too, Genis!" I grabbed the ball that I had been playing with earlier. "You wanna play with me?"_

"_Sure!"_

"Lloyd? Lloyd!"

I blinked and saw that my friends were already a far ways ahead of me. "Come on!" Genis yelled his hands cupped around his mouth. "What are you doing just standing around there for? Let's go!"

I took one last fleeting glance at the playground and ran after them. "Yeah, yeah! I'm coming, I'm coming."

-----

"It's so weird," muttered Sheena as we continued our stroll down the park. "We all wait for school to end but, as soon as it does, it's so boring afterwards."

"Well, it's not our fault that there's nothing to do," I replied with a shrug. "After all, school just ended a few days ago." They didn't seem to be very satisfied with this remark.

"You know, we could have gone to the beach, but _noooooo! _You guys kept complaining that we didn't have our swimsuits. A little nudity never killed anyone," Zelos whined. Sheena grabbed his collar menacingly.

"Don't you start that again!"

As they began to argue for what seemed the eleventh time that day, Genis and I sighed simultaneously. "Don't they ever give up?" my best friend muttered in exasperation. "It's times like these I wonder why in the world we're even friends with them."

"Remember the first time we met Zelos?" I asked. I gave a grin, watching his face scrunch up.

"'Course I do," Genis scowled. "How could I not?"

"Ugh, Professor Sage always gives out so much homework! Even on the first day of school!" I wined, stuffing my history textbooks into my locker. "I don't see how you can always stand this much of a load, Genis."

_The ivory haired boy shrugged. "It'd be much easier if you actually tried doing your homework, rather than just sit around watching TV all day." I sent him a glare and slammed my locker shut._

"_Can't you just ask her to stop giving us so much, though?" I asked as we continued down the hall. "She is your sister after all; she'd listen to you."_

_Genis sent me a flat look. "No way. Besides, I actually like homework; it's pretty fun, once you get the hang of it."_

"_Only you would think homework is fun, Genis," I muttered._

"_Hey!" my best friend protested. "I'm sure lots of people enjoy doing their homework too!"_

_I gave him a smug look. "Oh really? Name one."_

"_Erm…" Genis began. "Well…oof!" My friend winced as he bumped into another person walking down the halls._

"_Watch it, brat! I'm walking" the other boy hissed. "Yeah!" The large group of girls clinging around him said in unison. I looked at him oddly. His hair was such a long flaming red that I nearly mistook him for a girl at first. He was tall and lanky, just a little bit taller than me. He stood cockily, enjoying the attention being given to him by the girls hanging off of his arms. The guy looked pretty popular…but I don't think I've seen him before. _

"_Don't call me brat!" Genis retaliated, his face as red as the guy's hair. "Who in the world do you think you are, anyways?"_

"_Why, I am the great Zelos Wilder, exchange student from the prestigious Meltokio Academy," he said, looking self-important. "I'm here on a three year exchange program to observe what the public school system is like. And, of course," he added, "to meet all the cute hunnies."_

_The girls giggled loudly—too loudly. Genis and I looked at each other and rolled our eyes; a foreign student: no wonder those girls were all over him. The girls in this town always loved the foreign boys. Don't know why, but they just do._

_Suddenly, the boy paused and looked over my shoulder. He suddenly cringed. "Uh, oh."_

"_ZELOS!" I swirled and found an irritated looking girl behind me, hands on her hips and tapping her foot with impatience. I had to admit; she was pretty. She had the nicest figure I've ever seen on a girl my age: slender and richly curved…not like I took notice to any of those things, of course! I looked at the girls behind me and saw they were glaring at her in pure jealousy. They must have noticed that she was far prettier than they were._

"_Hey Sheena," Zelos said sheepishly. "You're done with Science already?"_

"_Yes," the girl huffed. "And now we have to get to Math!" She looked at the girls and glared threateningly. "Shoo! You have to get to your classes too!" The girls grumbled and broke up, but not before waving goodbye to Zelos. "I'm sorry about this guy here," the girl said in apology after they had left._

"_Don't mention it," Genis shrugged._

"_Yeah," I shrugged in agreement._

"_Well, I'll make sure he doesn't bug you again! See ya!" She waved a goodbye and dashed off, with the redhead in tow. I looked at Genis, and he looked at me._

"_Yeesh, he was weird," Genis whispered as we turned into our next class._

"_I know," I muttered. "I hope we'll never see the likes of him again."_

I couldn't help but sigh in the irony of it all. "In the end, we're stuck with Zelos anyways."

"Huh? Did someone say something about me?" Zelos bound up behind me and hovered over my shoulder. "Huh?"

"We were just talking about how we first met you and Sheena," Genis replied.

"Oh, I remember that!" The redhead grinned. "You bumped into me in the hallway."

"Hey!" The boy fumed, his face turning red. "You were the one that bumped into me!"

"No I wasn't!"

"Yes you were!"

"No I…"

"ENOUGH!" Sheena placed her hands on her hips. "Before this thing gets out of hand, it's late, so we'd better get home already." The two gave each other one last glare before replying innocently, "Yes Sheena."

"We'll see you tomorrow, then?" Sheena asked as she and Zelos began towards the gate.

"Yeah," I shouted after them. "How about we go to the beach or something? The weather lady said it would be nice out this season."

"That's a great idea! We'll meet you at Marble's in the morning so we can go, okay?"

"Yeah, sure!"

"Okay then, bye guys!"

"Bye!"

As we turned and walked around, Genis whispered, "Lloyd, what in the world are you thinking? Zelos plus beach full of girls is not a good thing."

I shrugged. "Oh well. At least we'll have fun watching Sheena beat him up."

At this, we could both agree.

**Cont.**

**-----**

**A/N: **Heh, it's a filler chapter. Sorry about this, but it's kinda nesseccary. Kinda. The next chapter is probably going to make you hate me in the end, but the thing that's going to happen is 100 nesseccary. Trust me. Well, read and review please! I've never asked before, but please do! Oh, and here's a little thanks to those who've been reviewing; sorry for the long wait!

**RevivedSin: **Yes, they do get the summer off when we're all studying xD I came up with this story in the summer so it's set in the summer.

TUF STUF II-Henrika foreva-II: Hey! Thanks for reviewing every chapter! Hope you stick with this story for a while longer. 

**Lugiamania: **Thanks for your reviews, especially the one for chapter 3; it's nice to know what I'm doing right.

**Lord Cynic: **Hey, I've read some of your fics before! You're good oOU Thanks for the review; hope you enjoy.

GyppyGirl2021: Heh, cute is good, non? XD 

**KaguyaEvenstar: **Well, I didn't want to overload people with descriptions of characters all at once so I introduced them at different times. Thanks for telling me that was good.

**KatonKageNaruto:** Heh, I'm sorry that my next chapter was so slow in coming; I was pretty busy this whole month.

Well, thanks everyone! And don't forget to **R&R**.


	5. Not So Much Fun in the Sun

**Natsu no E**

**Summary: **TOS AU Colloyd, Zeroshii Nearing the sixteenth summer of his life, Lloyd Irving considers himself your normal, average, everyday teenager. That is, until the ethereal Colette Brunel moves right next door.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Tales of Symphonia.

00000

**Chapter 5: Not so much fun in the sun**

The beach up north of Iselia was often crowded during this time of year. It was a typical northern beach, with at least a mile stretch of sand. Unlike its tropical cousins down south, there was nothing special or exotic here. Just birds and a bunch of sand dunes covered in annoying, itchy beach grass. During the colder seasons of spring, autumn, and winter, it was always almost abandoned. The cold sea spray and beach gusts were not exactly welcomed from people in a town that could barely stand the cold period. But, in the summer, when it was hot and muggy, the beach would be packed with the townspeople.

When we got there this morning, however, it was almost near empty. There was an old couple walking their dog on the sand and a group of sophomores lounging about on the other side of the beach. Even this early in the morning, it was already beginning to get warmer, though there was a significant chill reminiscent of the late days of spring.

"Looks like we're pretty early," Sheena commented, finding us a spot. "There're hardly any people here."

"Well, the earlier the better, right?" Genis asked when we dumped our things in the sand. He and I were dressed alike: board shorts and bare feet. "Last time we came, the good spots were taken by all the other people."

"Hey, Genis, where's Professor Sage? I thought you told me that she would come with us to the beach today," I asked. My best friend shrugged.

"Well, all she said was that she was busy and walked off. It was almost like she was afraid to go or something." We looked at each other and started laughing. The Professor? Scared of a little thing like the beach? Yeah right!

Sheena scowled at us. "Guys, be nice. Professor Sage probably has to prepare for summer school; she's teaching the history course this year, remember?"

I shuddered. I was lucky; I just barely managed to get decent grades. If I hadn't, I would have been stuck in summer school like last year.

"What's this I hear?" Zelos staggered up to us, hidden underneath the beach things that were piled up in his arms. "The professor didn't come?" he asked, disappointment in his voice. "Oh, by the way, Sheena, here's your stuff." He carelessly dropped the load onto the ground. "HEY! ZELOS!" we all yelled as sand flew up into our faces.

Rubbing her eyes, Sheena growled. "Zelos! Our lunch was in there!"

"So?" the redhead said airily, brushing off sand from his board shorts (last time we went to the beach, he wore Speedos. I was practically blind for a whole entire week) "Now, if you excuse me…" he trailed off, his gaze shifting over to the group of sophmore girls on the other side of the beach. "I'm going to hang out with those cuties over there…"

"Zelos!" they cried happily, spotting the familiar red head jog over. I rolled my eyes. He was always ditching us for girls. Sheena huffed, her face red with anger. "Well, who needs him anyways? You guys gonna help fix this mess or not?"

"Sorry Sheena, don't feel like it," I replied, sprinting off before she could say otherwise. "Uh, yeah, me neither," Genis said, running after me.

"GUYS!" the oriental girl growled, rubbing her temples. "Ugh, stupid boys…"

"Yahoo!" I dived head first into the surf, coming back up with a mouth full of seawater. "Damn it! It's cold!" I yelped in surprise. I heard giggling and I glared at Genis, who was busy rolling on the sand clutching onto his sides.

"What's so funny?" I scowled, marching back up to the beach. "Let's see how you like it!"

"Lloyd? Lloyd! Hey, cut it out. Leggo of—YEEOWCH! The water's cold!"

"Hah! Told you!"

Off to the side, Sheena rolled her eyes at us underneath her sunglasses. "Boys," I heard her mutter once more as she dived back into her magazine.

**00000**

The whole morning consisted of mostly Genis and me dunking each other's head into the water. Well, I was doing most of the dunking; Genis was doing the yelling. By the time noon rolled over, both Genis and I were soaked to the bone.

Sheena cocked a brow at us as we dragged ourselves up the sand. "Hey guys. Had fun?"

"Yeah, we did," I replied, draping my towel around my neck. "Where's Zelos?" I asked her and received a snort in reply.

"Over there," she said, jerking her thumb over to where Zelos was surrounded by the majority of the beach's female population. There was irritation when she rolled her eyes. "He's been there all morning. Honestly…" Sheena huffed and didn't bother to finish the sentence. "So you guys want to eat?"

Well, I was pretty hungry. "Sure, why not—"

_ROAR!_

The boom of motorcycles revving up onto the sand cut me off. A whole pack of them, at least ten, flew down the dunes. Sand tossed up into the air when they skidded to a halt right in front of us. I coughed harshly, the sand spraying in my eyes. "Well, well, if it isn't Irving and his little pals."

Genis paled, a remarkable feat for a boy that was already as white as death, and retreated behind Sheena, who was already snarling at the riders. I looked up, but I didn't need to look at him to know who it was: I could already recognize that arrogant drawl anywhere. Forcystus smirked, a cigarette sticking out of his mouth. A slow, lazy plume of smoke rose from the cancer stick right before the blue haired gang leader spit it out onto the sand. I wrinkled my nose as it landed at my feet.

"Go away, Forcystus," I hissed, "I'm not in the mood to deal with you today."

The Desians sniggered. All of them looked the same, dressed in the same leather jackets, red bandanas, and visors, all except Forcystus, who wore an eye patch over his left eye instead of a bandana. It had been a while since they were all in middle school; most were now in their late teens or early twenties, but all of them proud high school dropouts.

In our town, there was only one big thing that marred its good name and that were the Desians. The Desians had evolved from your normal school yard bullies to your average gang. They drove around town on their noisy motorcycles almost everyday, always leaving chaos in their wake. Their graffiti plagued nearly all of the alleyways and buildings, and the buds from their cigarettes littered the roads and parkways. And right at the head of it all was Forcystus.

"Well that's too bad," the blue haired man drawled as he stared me down. "We were planning to have such fun with you guys." His gaze drifted over to Genis and he sneered. "Especially you, runt."

"Hey! Don't you dare touch him!" Sheena growled, pushing Genis behind her protectively.

"Woah, the chick's got some bite," Forcystus whistled in appreciation. He grabbed her by the chin and surveyed her closely. "Not bad, not bad...how'd you like to be a part of our Ladies in Red?" Sheena pushed him off with disgust

At the moment, I was the one seeing red. "I don't think she'd want to join your harem, Forcystus! Now lay off or I'll…" My rage fizzled down and was immediately replaced with fear.

Oh. No.

The blue haired man snickered at my sudden silence. "You'll what, Irving? You'll what?" I didn't reply.

Because, at the entrance of the beach, was probably the worst person to come at this exact time: Colette.

**00000**

She stood around in a simple white tank top, with a brown wrap around skirt that fluttered up to her knees. Her hair was tied into two separate braids and a flower was innocently tucked behind an ear, oblivious to the fact that I was staring at her with absolute terror. Oh, crap. I thought frantically. What was she doing here!

"_Good morning, Lloyd!"_

_I froze, my key half way turned in the lock. So close…I looked to the left and saw Colette leaning over the fence, a big smile on her face. I couldn't help but sigh; I had been hoping to avoid the girl long enough so I could get to the beach. Guess she woke up earlier than I thought._

"_Hey," I muttered, joggling my beach towel onto my arm._

"_Where you going?" She asked, watching as I stomped down my front yard trying my best to ignore her._

"_The beach," I replied. I wasn't trying to be rude, but I just wanted to get rid of her so I could go…okay, maybe I was, but that wasn't the point!_

"_Can I come?"_

_I winced. "Erm, well…" I looked at her and she smiled back. Groaning, I said, "If you have some swimming things, I guess…" I wanted to hit myself on the head for this; Lloyd, you idiot, what do you think you are doing? Don't invite her, for goodness sake! Well, she just moved in only a week ago, I tried to convince myself. She probably doesn't even have a swimsuit, or maybe she didn't even unpack it yet. Yeah, that's it. After a while, Colette turned to me. "Alright!" she beamed. "Have fun!"_

_Dumfounded, I stared as she ran back into her house. Wait…was that a yes or a no?_

Oh…right. I told her I was gong to the beach. I slapped myself on the forehead for being so stupid. Damn it! This was not the right time! The girl cocked her head in my direction and I scrambled to hide myself. Crap, hope she doesn't—

"Lloyd!"

--See…me…I slapped myself on the forehead again. Aw, darn it! Everyone's attention drew to Colette as she weaved her way through the crowd. "I'm sorry I'm late!" she beamed, oblivious to Forcystus's confused stare. I would have laughed, but I was too busy trying to sink into the ground. "You see, my swimsuit was still in the boxes and I had to get it out; good thing I did, huh, Lloyd?"

"Heh, yeah…" I looked at Sheena and Genis and mouthed, 'I didn't invite her here; seriously!' They didn't look convinced.

One of the Desians finally snapped out of his stupor and shouted, "H-hey! Just who do you think you are?"

Colette blinked and turned to the gang. "Oh, hello. My name is Colette Brunel." She smiled. "It's very nice to meet all of you." I gaped; how could she act as if they just weren't about to pounce on all of us?

"Colette, eh?" Forcystus hummed, draping an arm around the smaller girl's shoulder. "You're new around here, aren't you? How about me and the boys show you around town, huh?"

She shook her head. "No, that's alright. Lloyd already showed me around. But thank you for offering."

"Is that right?" The blue haired boss sneered at me. "Well, don't you know that you shouldn't be hanging around with losers like these? Come with us and we'll show you some real fun.

"That's okay," Colette insisted politely. "I'd rather stay with Lloyd."

Forcystus looked dumfounded and the fact that he was rejected twice; it was just like what happened to Zelos. "Do you know who I am?" he hissed in frustration. He swept his arm out towards his crew. "Do you know who we are?"

The blonde mulled it over for a second or two. "Well…you're all in uniform…are you guys part of a sports team?"

Silence fell onto us like a thick blanket. Suddenly, the Desians were in hysterics, clutching their bikes and wiping tears out of their eyes. "Man, this girl is stupider than I thought!" Forcystus managed to wheeze in between laughs. "Great taste in women, Irving. Your girlfriend suits you perfectly!"

"W-what!" My face turned red. "She's not my girlfriend!" I sent a glare over to Colette, but she was still smiling cheerfully, not really getting what was so funny but laughing with them all the same.

"Later, losers!" Forcystus cackled, barely able to get on his bike without tipping it over from laughing so much. The motorcycles roared to life and, kicking even more sand into our eyes, they sped off, their laughter still lingering in the air like smoke in a tavern.

"Well, they were really nice, weren't they?" Colette commented cheerfully. "Were they friends of yours too, Lloyd?"

I could feel Genis and Sheena's stares boring into my back. I groaned. Could my life get any worse?

"Hey guys, what just happened? I saw some motorcycles here and—" Zelos caught sight of Colette and immediately cut himself off. "Oh, why hello there my cute little Colette, what are you doing out here this fine afternoon?"

I moaned and slammed my head into the sand. It just did.

**00000**

"Wasn't that fun, Lloyd? Huh, wasn't it? I never knew that beaches could be so pleasant."

I gritted my teeth and didn't say a word. It was only three o'clock; as soon as that whole incident was finished, I immediately packed up and went for home. Unfortunately, Colette decided to come along too.

"And those other boys on the beach seemed really nice too. Though I didn't get why they were laughing so much. Maybe it was because of—"

"THEY WERE LAUGHING AT YOU!" I stopped abruptly and swirled around to face her, my hands clenched into fists. This was the last straw; I had enough of this already! Colette looked at me in bewilderment, blue eyes widened from shock.

"W-what are you talking about, Lloyd?" She stammered.

"I said that they were laughing at you! Don't you know who they were?" She shook her head slowly. "Well, they're not a sports team, or whatever you called them! They were Desians; they're the gang that controls this town! And _you _embarrassed me in front of their leader!"

Colette bowed her head. "I'm sorry, Lloyd… we're still friends, right?"

I normally would have stopped right here and said yes, but my anger was still in full throttle. "We're not friends," I muttered under my breath, turning my back to her so I wouldn't see the hurt in her eyes. "Or anything of the sort. The fact is that…I JUST DON'T LIKE YOU!" I spun around to face her again, preparing myself for tears.

But what I wasn't prepared for was the sight of her body sprawled face down on the ground.

Cont… 

**00000**

**A/N: **Bet you didn't see that coming, huh, did you? –crickets chirp- Guess you did -- Well, next chapter is going to be really serious for the most part so get ready for it. R&R, people! Criticism is always welcomed!


	6. Colette's Secret

**Natsu no E**

**Summary: **TOS AU Colloyd, Zeroshii Nearing the sixteenth summer of his life, Lloyd Irving considers himself your normal, average, everyday teenager. That is, until the ethereal Colette Brunel moves right next door.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Tales of Symphonia.

**00000**

**Chapter 6: Colette's Secret**

"COLETTE!"

I ran to her side and gently propped her up into my lap. "She's out cold…" I murmured to myself. Gingerly, I placed my hand on top of her forehead to see what was wrong. "Damn it!" I swore loudly in shock. "She's burning up!"

Colette stirred in my arms, a grimace of pain creasing her features. I frowned in frustration. My house wasn't very far—just a few blocks down. If I could just get her there, I'd be able to lay her down some place more comfortable.

"Hang on," I muttered, slinging her onto my back. "I'm bringing you to my house." Her forehead pressed against my neck and I could feel the intensity of the fever through my clothes. I swore again and began to slowly inch towards home.

As soon as I reached the door, I roughly banged it open with my shoulder—I knew Dad was going to yell at me later because I just caused another dent in the wall behind me, but there was no time to think about that at a time like this. Noishe yelped in surprise, jumping up from his seat on the couch as if someone had stepped on his tail.

"Noishe, get off!" I frowned, shooing the dog away. He whined in complaint as I placed Colette down onto his spot. Looking down at the girl, I winced at how terrible she looked; her skin was the color of a sheet of paper, her hair plastered against her face in a thin gloss of sweat. I would have mistaken her as dead, if it weren't for the shallow breathing causing the rise and falls of her chest. I put my hand on her forehead once more and grimaced—it was still burning. I immediately dashed off to the kitchen.

Colette was already beginning to stir back into consciousness by the time I had scampered back with a bowl of water and a towel in hand. Her weary blue eyes creaked open slowly, barely recognizing me when I entered the room. "W-where am I?" Her voice cracked in the stuffy air.

"You're at my house," I replied, placing the bowl of water on the coffee table. I ignored her startled look and dunked the towel into the bowl.

"What happened?" she queried, struggling to sit up.

"Hey, don't sit up! You're not better yet!" I forced her back down onto the couch. Fishing the towel out of the water and placing it on her forehead, I replied, "You fainted right in the middle of the sidewalk. We were close to home, so I figured to take you here instead of the hospital." I looked to the ground sheepishly. "I tried to take you to your house first…but no one was there."

Colette stared at me as I gingerly placed the wet towel on her head. "I'm sorry," she whispered, her voice sounding hoarse. I looked at her in surprise—how could she still be apologizing at a time like this?

"What are you talking about?"

"It must have really inconvenienced you," she continued, "To carry me all the way here—I must have been a burden."

"Nah, it wasn't any trouble at all." I gave a pathetic smile. "Seriously." The girl was silent for a moment, giving me a chance to muster up the courage to ask the question that was hanging in the air. "Colette…" My voice cracked in uneasiness. "What…just what happened back there?"

"Hehehe. What are you talking about, Lloyd?" she said with a sudden bout of cheerfulness. I was taken back for a second. "Nothing happened; I just passed out from the heat, that's all."

My brow creased. "You're lying." I stated bluntly. I didn't know what in the world caused me to be that direct about it—I wasn't sure that she was lying. But it had certainly got a reaction from her; the girl blinked wide-eyed and struggled to sit up again.

"N-no I'm not—"

I cut her off, "You sounded forced. And you couldn't have passed out from the heat; it wasn't that hot out and you had a really bad fever despite of it." I stared her down. "So tell the truth, Colette. What happened?"

I stared into her weary blue eyes and she stared back. For a second, I was surprised by how drained they looked, but I stood firm. Finally, Colette broke the staring contest by looking down at the ground and gave a shuddering sigh.

"Ever since I was a baby," she began softly—so softly that I could barely hear anything at first. "I had been very ill. My body was weak and I was very fragile for the most part; any strenuous activity was hazardous to my health. I had to stay in the hospital for most of the first few years of my life. But, even after I went home, I wasn't allowed to go outside or go to school."

"I was home-schooled by my grandmother for the most part. She taught me everything the kids in my grade were learning. And sometimes even more! But, every once and a while, I couldn't help but wonder what real school was like and what having real friends were like. I wasn't allowed outside, so I didn't have any friends of my own." She seemed to catch my startled gaze and gave a smile as potent as a slap. "You know…you're my first friend Lloyd."

I winced, guilt surging through me from all the times I thought of her as annoying and bizarre. And I couldn't help but wonder: Why could this girl make me feel lower than a pile of sludge without really meaning it?

"So why are you allowed to go out now?" I asked.

"Well, about a month ago, my doctors declared that my immune system had gotten stronger over the years and it was already at the point where I could actually be like a normal person and go to school with the rest of the kids my age; my father was so happy. We were on the move a lot because of my constant hospital transfers. But, once I got better, we decided to move to Iselia."

"Why Iselia?"

"Father got a job recommendation here. Also…" she paused, the slight twinkle of a laugh coming to her eyes. "We heard that the people in Iselia were very kind." Colette looked at me and beamed. "And we were right."

Ouch; that hurt more than it seemed. "I wouldn't say that," I muttered, trying to get her to change her mind about me, to get her to realize that I wasn't a very kind person at all, especially after all I've thought about her. "I'm far from kind."

Colette looked startled. "Oh, no. Lloyd, you are kind!" Her gaze dropped to the floor. "Why else would you be able to take the time to actually acknowledge me?"

Another long silence passed but, this time, I was the one to break it. I gave a ragged sigh, running a hand through my spiky brown locks. What in the world was I going to say to this one? "Look, Colette…" She gazed up at me with those big blue eyes of hers that I couldn't stand and, for a split second, I thought of stopping. But I continued. "I'm…sorry." I spat out the words in a rush, almost as if I wanted to get rid of them more than I really wanted them to mean something. "I was a little harsh on you about the beach thing and I…" I gulped. "…I'm really sorry."

The blond giggled slightly. "Oh, there's nothing to be sorry about there." Her smile was small. "I was acting a little ditzy; I didn't mean to embarrass you like that at all. It's just…I've never been to the beach before and I wanted to fit in with you and your friends." Her brows knitted together. "We are still friends…right?"

"Yeah. Of course we're friends" I tried my best at a grin, and, for some reason, it came a little easier than before. "Now get back to sleep so you can get better, okay?"

Colette nodded. "Thank you, Lloyd." And, just like that, Colette Brunel was out like a candle.

I let out a sigh that I hadn't even known I was holding until now. Noishe butted my knee and whined, almost as if to say, "You alright there?" I patted him on the head. "Yeah, I'm okay." Standing up, I slung the extra towels on my arm and picked up the bowl of now lukewarm water.

Who would have known? I thought wryly to myself, returning the items to the kitchen. And I always thought she was just cheerful because she was…well, cheerful. I didn't know she had that big of a secret.'At this, I found myself wincing once more at how badly I had treated her for the past week.

_She just wanted to be your friend,_ scolded my annoying conscience with a scowl. _And you kept trying to avoid her! What happened to that kind boy that used to love making friends so easily?_

He grew up, I retorted dryly to that voice. But, in the middle of dumping the water in the sink, I stopped. Yeah…what did happen to me? "I guess I should have tried harder to be friends with her, huh, Noishe?" I asked aloud. I looked down and the dog merely cocked his head in response. I grinned once more and patted him on the head. "Or tried to tolerate her better, at the least. Sure, she's a bit annoying and a little…odd, but that's nothing I can't overlook. And, hey, if I could put up with Zelos, I could put up with anybody!" I laughed when I said this. "So, maybe I should try a little harder this time, huh? What do you say Noishe?"

He barked, though it wasn't a, I-agree-with-you bark, it was a, feed-me-now-I'm-getting-tired-of-your-whining- bark. I sighed; I should have known that talking to your dog about these things wasn't exactly the smartest (_or sanest_, that irritating voice piped up again) thing in the world. "Yeah, yeah, you pig," I muttered, going off to get his food bowl. "You're seriously going to get fat with the way I'm spoiling you."

Noishe just barked in reply.

**00000**

"Thanks for everything, Lloyd. I'm sorry for hindering you again." Colette stood ready at the door, hand resting on the doorknob. She looked much better, really—you couldn't even tell that she had something wrong with her in the first place. All she needed was a little rest, I guess.

"Hey, I said you don't need to worry about it," I insisted.

"Oh, right…I'm sorry."

I attempted something akin to a grin. "You really should get going," I noted, looking at the clock: it was 3:56. "Your father should be coming home soon."

Colette's eyes widened. "Oh, no…Father." She looked at me desperately. "Lloyd, you have to promise that you won't tell my Father about what happened today."

I stared at her in surprise; she didn't seem like a girl who would keep secrets. "Why?"

The blond bit her lip. "If he finds out…I'll never be able to go outside again. So…please." Her azure eyes locked onto mine. "Don't tell him."

I gave her an assuring smile and awkwardly patted her on the shoulder. "Hey. I promise, okay? So…um, don't worry."

Colette simply beamed. (For some strange, unknown reason, I felt my face warm up the slightest bit. But only for a second…a very brief second) "Thanks. I trust you, Lloyd." She turned the doorknob and headed out. "I'll see you tomorrow!" Suddenly, she paused, then looked back at me. "Wait, um…Lloyd?"

"Yeah?"

"You were saying something before I collapsed, but I didn't seem to catch what you said. What were saying to me?"

_"We're not friends," I muttered under my breath, turning my back to her so I wouldn't see the hurt in her eyes. "Or anything of the sort. The fact is that…I JUST DON'T LIKE YOU!"_

"Nothing," I replied quickly. "Nothing at all."

Cont… 

**00000**

**A/N: **Hey guys, sorry about how late this is . I just didn't have much inspiration over the Christmas break and school came back at such full blast, I didn't have much time to work on this.

Hope you guys liked the chapter. This is the starting point where Lloyd will try to be nice to Colette, so his OOC-ness will be finally gone! It's a little rushed, I know. But I'll do better next time.

Also, I have a little request from you guys. If I can, can I have another beta reader for this fic? My current beta tester, Mira-chan, is awesome! But, since we both happen to be in every single one of the other's classes, we both happen to be swamped as well. And it's always good to have more than one beta reader for your fanfic, right? Well, email me if you're interested in being a reader; I'd prefer someone who'll actually give me criticism and not just comments, m'kay? Sorry if it's too much to ask. See you later!


	7. The Falling Star

**Natsu no E**

**Summary: **TOS AU Colloyd, Zeroshii Picnics, beach parties, movie theaters, ice cream shops, with a little bit of romance sprinkled on the side—that is the picture of summer.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Tales of Symphonia.

**00000**

**Chapter 7: The Falling Star**

For the next few days, I didn't see hide or hair of Colette.

At first, I was a bit worried. After that little incident on our way home, I was a bit afraid that she was sick again. I was even scared that she might've fallen down the stairs, though I had no idea why—falling down the stairs had nothing to do with what was happening to her right now. But, then again, she was pretty clumsy.

I felt a little stupid about how silly I was acting; I don't think I was this worried about anyone before. Well, maybe a few times, but it still felt odd nonetheless.

My annoying conscience kept bugging me to go and see how she was doing, but I always said no; it'd be a little suspicious if her dad or grandmother caught me visiting for no reason at all. After all, I promised Colette that I wouldn't tell them anything about what happened. Still, I tried not to let it get at me as I moved along with the rest of my summer.

It was until the fourth day after the incident that I finally saw her.

I woke up pretty late: 10:00, the same time I woke up when I was supposed to show Colette around the town. I had promised to meet the gang at Marble's again today, but, honestly, I didn't feel up to it. They'd already noticed my odd behavior (even self-absorbed Zelos) and to avoid the inevitable questions, I decided to stay home and be lazy for a day. Luckily, Dirk was taking the day off so I didn't have to worry about the kitchen catching on fire while I was asleep.

"Finally up, eh?"

I sent my foster father a smoldering glare before sleepily shuffling off into the kitchen. I would have slept longer, but my stomach was getting the best of me. "Aren't you supposed to be out with your friends today?" he asked as I walked back into the living room and plopped myself down on the couch, a piece of toast hanging out of my mouth.

"Too lazy," I muttered as best I could with my mouth full of bread.

Dirk merely shrugged, going back to his morning paper. "Suit yourself." When he turned the page, the doorbell suddenly blared to life. Although the dog at his feet seemed a bit startled, Dirk didn't even look up. "Lloyd, can you get that?"

"Yeah, okay." I reluctantly hauled myself off the couch and went to go answer the door. But, when I swung that door open, I found a big surprise waiting on the other end.

"Good morning, Lloyd!"

"Colette?" I rubbed my eyes to make sure I was seeing things correctly. Yup, it was her, alright. Standing outside my door was definitely the chipper blue-eyed girl, dressed in her normal white blouse and long light blue skirt. With her patient smile and my sleepy posture, I had an odd feeling of déjà vu while trying to process why in the world she was outside my door.

Colette beamed brightly. "Did you sleep well last night?"

It was a random question, but I replied sheepishly, scratching the back of my neck, "I guess, but I kinda just woke up…"

The blue-eyed girl's expression drooped a bit. "Oh, I'm sorry. Did I wake you?" she asked worriedly. Silently, I appreciated the fact that she didn't remark that it was way too late to be waking up just now.

"Nah," I shrugged it off. "Not really. I was going to wake up sooner or later anyways." I opened the door wider to let her inside. But, as we stood in an awkward silence, it was pretty obvious that she didn't want to come in. Finally, I gave a ragged sigh, slipped on my slippers, and stepped outside onto the porch, closing the door on my way out. "Um…you feeling any better?" I asked when I was sure that Dirk couldn't hear us.

"Oh, yes, much better!" She seemed to notice my doubtful look and gave me an encouraging smile. "Truly! I feel great!" The girl mimicked the action of jumping jacks and I felt the corners of my mouth twitch up slightly.

"Then why are you here?" I asked, still curious.

"I was just wondering if I could spend the day with you and your friends." To my surprise, she looked down at the ground and began to fiddle with her fingers. "I…want to get to know them better. They seem really nice."

Well, this was awkward. I fumbled with my words, ruffling my hair nervously with my left hand: a trait that I had for all my life. "Um, well, I wasn't really planning to go out today." I looked at her for a reaction. "Feeling a little sleepy and all…"

"Oh, I see…" Colette's expression drooped the slightest bit, though it was quickly replaced by her cheerful smile. "If you weren't planning to go out, then I understand. I'll just be going now and—"

"But I'll come with you," I interrupted quickly. If it had been a week ago, I would have just let her go, I noted wryly to myself. "Just, err, give me a minute to change, okay?"

The blonde looked up, wide blue eyes growing even wider; she mustn't have expected me to agree. "Oh…" she sounded puzzled for a second, before her face split into a full out smile. "O-okay! I'll be waiting right out here!"

"You do that." I closed the door behind me and headed up towards my room.

"Who was that?" Dirk asked when I was halfway up the stairs.

"Colette." I could practically feel that odd, cocked eyebrow stare boring into my back. But, once again, my dad said nothing. Shutting the door behind me, I shuffled through the mess that was my room and pulled out a pair of clothes from my practically unused wardrobe that seemed suitable. Shrugging them on as quickly as I could so not to keep her waiting, I bounded down the stairs and took the extra house keys from the key rack. "I'm going out, okay Dad?"

"Sure Lloyd," Dirk said, looking up from his paper with his eyes crinkled in a smile. "Have fun."

That was what I liked about Dirk; he wasn't the kind of parent who instigated Spanish Inquisition every single time his kid went out, even if said child was going off to hang out with a girl.

**00000**

The walk down to Marble's was, surprisingly, not as bad as I imagined. Colette was just as bubbly as she was before, asking me questions here and there, trying to strike up a conversation. And, remembering my promise to myself, I answered them the best I could. She wasn't asking me as many questions as the first time, though, I realized after a long while. Whether it was because she had asked most of her questions the first time on the tour or because we were both a little awkward from the incident, I couldn't decide. But it was still hard to pick out if Colette was feeling as uncomfortable as I was.

If she was, she was doing a very, very good job of hiding it.

"Lloyd!"

I heard Genis's voice calling out to us as soon as Marble's came to view. Not surprisingly, they were all there standing near the bicycle racks, with the exception of Zelos who was probably in the store flirting with one of the cashier registers.

"Where were you? We were starting to get worried!" The boy exclaimed as he ran up to me. He didn't seem to notice Colette.

"Heh," I laughed nervously. "I was kinda feeling a bit lazy today and sorta slept in late…"

Genis looked at me. "So you were going to ditch us again?" he asked bluntly. I winced; he was absolutely right. Seeing my reaction confirm his thoughts, he rolled his eyes. "Yeesh, Lloyd, you could at least call when you're planning to sleep in all day. I—" He stopped and his gaze wandered over to Colette. I quickly intervened before he could say anything.

"Genis, you remember Colette, right?" He nodded numbly, but was still staring at the girl as if she was some alien that just beamed down from a flying saucer. "Yeah, well, she's hanging out with us today."

"It's nice to see you again, Genis." Colette sent him a smile and, noticing the smoldering look that Genis was sending over, I jabbed him in the ribs.

"Stop it," I hissed. Genis cracked a slight smile, but a glimmer of distrust still remained. I sighed—I really didn't expect to get anywhere anyways. By this time, Sheena had noticed that we had arrived and joined us on the sidewalk.

"Hey, Lloyd." The girl paused for a second, taking in Colette. "Hi, Colette." I practically sighed in relief; at least Sheena was acting nice. I didn't know what terms she and Colette were on (after all, she had called her weird the first time they met) but at least I knew that the girl didn't dislike the other—if she did, it would have been made very clear.

"Where's Zelos?" I asked, and Sheena pointed dully at Marble's. At that I couldn't help but roll my eyes. Did I really have to ask? "Were you guys planning to do anything today?" I asked again, changing the subject.

"No, not really," replied Sheena with a shrug. "Since you didn't show up, we were just going to walk around the park some more. You have any ideas?"

I didn't really think of that. There wasn't much to do in our little town so we always got bored; most of the times we had to come with things in order to keep ourselves occupied. I was about to shrug when Colette intervened.

"How about we watch a movie?"

"Hey, that's a pretty good idea," Sheena commented in approval. "It is pretty hot out today…some air condition would do us good."

"But there's only one problem," Genis said with scorn. "The High Tide Theater's AC is broken and you know how hot it can get in the theaters."

Colette blinked in confusion. "Huh? I don't know about a High Tide Theater." She paused to smile at me. "I was thinking we can go to that quaint one we saw while you were showing me around the town. You know, Lloyd. Golden Stars, right?"

I really didn't think about that—it had been so long since I've even been there that I didn't even consider it. And it wasn't that bad of a place. Yeah, it was a little outdated, but at least the neighborhood was okay. "Sure, why not?" I looked to Sheena and Genis. "You guys up for it?"

Sheena grinned, Genis nodded reluctantly, and, not surprisingly, Colette was smiling. "Then come on; I'm sure we can catch a movie before three." Suddenly, I smacked my head and groaned. "But, first…can someone get Zelos?"

**00000**

"Aw, man! Why'd you have to drag me away like that, huh? We were having a very nice conversation, you know."

Sheena glared at the pouting Zelos. "Just shut up, already, Zelos. You're lucky I didn't tug your ear off."

The redhead huffed, but then gave a happy grin. "Oh well! It's alright now, now that I have my cute Colette with me today!" He casually swung an arm around Colette's shoulders and, for some reason my eye began to twitch. If it was out of annoyance or something else, I didn't want to know. "Where were you these past few days, my little cutie?" he asked her. I eyed Colette cautiously.

"Just up and around the house," the girl replied politely. "I wasn't feeling all too well, so I decided to stay home."

"Oh, well, that's not too good, now is it—do you want Dr. Zelos to come take care of you next time?" She laughed politely and shook her head.

"That's alright." Colette smiled slightly. "Do you go to the movies a lot, Zelos?"

"Yup. Back home, I _own _my own theater," he boasted with pride.

Although I had tried to tune out to their conversation seconds earlier, my interest was perked as soon as he said this. "Really Zelos? You didn't mention _that _before."

"Yeah!" piped Genis. "Tell us about it!"

Zelos looked irritated at us for butting in, but an exaggerated grin crossed his face. "Got it for my thirteenth birthday. It's a pretty big place: velvet curtains, red carpets, the works. My dad built it for me that summer." He puffed out his chest like a proud peacock. "It was a little gaudy at first…but I spiced it up a bit."

"That's amazing," Colette commented in awe. "You must be really proud of that theater, Zelos."

The redhead shrugged. "Hey, it's nothing special. But…" he paused, then a wry grin passed his face. "It became a sort of second home to me, back then when I was just a kid."

Before any of us could ask what that meant, we had arrived in front of Golden Stars. As the rest of our group eyed the old, musty decorations, I ordered the tickets from the booth, startling the ticket person inside (who probably didn't expect anyone, much less teenagers, to come to a place like this) The inside of the theater didn't look as bad as it did from the outside—the velvet curtains were slightly stiff and dusty, the carpet old and faded, but the ceiling, which gave the name to the theater because of the sparkling mirrors in the shapes of stars hanging in the night sky, was still as brilliant as it was years ago.

Aside from the slightly stale, cold butter popcorn, and Zelos's constant attempts to grope Sheena in the dark of the theater, the movie itself wasn't half bad. The movie we watched was the very same one that Dirk made me see a long, long time ago—the scenes were still the same shade of brown and held all the cheesiness that I had remembered swallowing. Looking at Colette next to me, I could see that she was watching the scene with rapt interest and sincerity, unlike the other two, who were too busy glaring at Zelos for something or other. I couldn't help but smile slightly at her wide eyes—it was almost funny, really, seeing as I thought most kids our age weren't interested in this old stuff.

I could only thank the darkness of the theater for hiding my embarrassment when she caught me staring.

**00000**

"Well, that wasn't that bad, now was it?" I asked as we exited out into the hot afternoon sun. We were some of the only people that came out of the theater, aside for an old couple and one or two street bums.

"Yeah," Genis agreed, wrinkling his nose as he peeled off some old chewing gum from his jacket sleeve. "The movie was pretty old though."

"I like old movies." Sheena's smile dissipated into a slight frown. "But the popcorn was sort of stale and there were hardly any people here. Also, the theater's a bit old and run down…"

From a far away distance from Sheena, Zelos shrugged. "Heh, not as bad as some places—some of the theater's I've seen are butt ugly. And I kinda like that old rustic charm."

To my surprise, an unfamiliar sparkle came to Colette's eyes: a sparkle of a plan forming underneath blue depths. "If they fixed up the condition of the theater, would you think more people would come, Zelos?" Colette inquired.

Unaware of that sparkle, Zelos shrugged once more. "Yup. All you gotta do is fix the outside, dust the curtains, get a new carpet, clean the seats a little bit and play some newer movies and this place could be really popular."

A slow smile passed the girl's face and she cocked her head in satisfaction. "I thought as much."

Cont… 

**00000**

**A/N: **Well, sorry about the late update…again. I told myself that I was gonna update every week, but noooo, I keep forgetting…-grumbles- Oh well. Hope you liked this chapter. I know that Lloyd and Colette seem sort of awkward…but they aren't just going to become best friends off the bat, now are they?

I'd like to dedicate this chapter to my second beta, Tekli, who is just too awesome! XD

For that person who emailed me about being my beta and didn't get a reply, I'm sorry—my Yahoo screwed up and ate your email oOU

Well, read and review people! Reviews encourage me to actually stay focused on this fic.


	8. Paint the Town White

**Natsu no E**

**Summary: **TOS AU Colloyd, Zeroshii Picnics, beach parties, movie theaters, ice cream shops, with a little bit of romance sprinkled on the side—that is the picture of summer.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Tales of Symphonia.

**00000**

Chapter 8: Paint the Town White 

"Add the three, carry the two…your total will be twenty-seven dollars and five cents."

A few coins clattered onto the checkout. "What!" I stared at the brown haired cashier in disbelief. "There's no way it can cost that much!"

Chocolat scoffed, holding out her hand expectantly. "Take it or leave it—the cash register never lies." I grumbled, but looked from her hand to the growing line of anxious people behind me. They seemed pretty annoyed, and all of them were sending me particularly vicious stares…

Giving my classmate one last glare, I shoved the money into her hand. "Just take it."

She beamed smugly before placing the money into the cash register. "Thank you. Have a nice day!"

"Yeah, yeah," I grumbled once more, heaving the plastic bags into my arms. "See you later, Chocolat." Stumbling out the door, I stared at the receipt in disgust. She must have been overpricing me again—there was no way the groceries could have been that expensive.

"Could have sworn that it only cost twenty …" I muttered to myself. But, then again, I wasn't always the best at math; that was Genis's thing, not mine. I sighed, scratching my head in confusion before shoving the receipt back into my pocket. This was what I get for shopping for Dirk's groceries again.

I glowered. I didn't like shopping; usually Dirk did it but, because he was still off today, he wanted me to pick some up groceries on the way home. 'Next time, Dirk's doing the shopping,' I thought. 'Chocolat always charges _me _extra.'

Shifting the bags, I headed down Elm Street, before turning the corner toward Star Theater. It was the long way home, but there was no need to rush. After all, the breeze was nice and clouds were blocking most of the sun—it was abnormally cool for a summer's day here in Iselia, and a morning walk sounded nice.

All of a sudden, my foot caught in something slippery and, at the same time, I bumped into something hard. The groceries went flying and, sure enough, I was looking up to the sky. 'What's with me and bumping into things?' I thought dryly, struggling to get up. I looked at the bags of groceries next to me. Pretty bent up, but everything looked in tact. And, still rolling on its side: a paint can, dripping some white paint.

"What the?" I picked it up and stared at it. "What's this doing in the middle of nowhere?"

"Uh…"

I turned around. Surprisingly (or not so surprisingly) there was Colette, sprawled on the ground like I had been. She rubbed her head, looking up at the sky in a slight daze. I sighed. Fancy seeing her here. "Need help?" I asked, bending over to pick her up.

She blinked. Then, a bright smile lit up her face when she realized who was talking to her. "Oh, Lloyd! Good morning!" She grabbed my hand and I pulled her into a sitting position before plopping down beside her. "What a surprise," she commented. "I didn't expect to see you here."

"Neither did I," I said, leaning over to retrieve the paint bucket. "Is this yours?"

"Yup, that's mine alright!" She took the paint can happily and beamed. "So, why are you here?"

"Just walking home with Dirk's groceries." I pointed over to where the lumpish bags sat. Hopefully nothing in there had cracked open—I did _not _want to go back to face the greedy wrath of Chocolat. "I decided to take the long way home."

"I'm sorry," Colette apologized, noticing the bags strewn haphazardly over the sidewalk. "I'll get them for you…" She tried to grab all of them at once, but before she tipped over, I snatched a few and placed them back down.

"No, no, that's okay," I insisted, taking the rest of the bags gingerly. "I can handle them." I helped her back on her feet and grabbed the groceries from the ground. "So why are you here?" I asked. "And what's the paint for?"

Colette fidgeted and bit her lip uncertainly. "Erm…promise not to tell anyone?"

I blinked. "Sure. Of course."

The girl's mood instantly brightened. "Okay then! Come on!" She grabbed me by the wrist and, ignoring my protests, dragged me around in the alleyway to the left of the building.

The left alleyway was a big, sort of mini road between the buildings. When I was younger, I used to hide in the trash bins and bags during hide-and-go-seek. It wasn't the healthiest thing in the world, and I got in trouble for the smell that stuck on me for a few days, but it was worth winning the "Iselia Wide Hide-and-Go-Seek Championship". When we turned that corner, I expected that hiding spot paradise I had when I was a kid. Instead, I nearly dropped my groceries in surprise.

"What in the world…" I stared at the alleyway. There wasn't anything really different about this place. The trash bags were still there and even that odd, earthy smell that I had grown fond of…then, I spotted what was so different. It was the wall. A fifth of it was sparkling white, absent of any graffiti. What was odd wasn't that it looked brand new—oh no, it was the fact that there was no graffiti that was odd.

The alley wall was notorious for it's graffiti problem. The Desians loved to at night and spray-paint on the walls. Over the last few years, the whole bottom half of the wall had been covered with multicolored swear words and insults. And, yet, almost a fifth of it was gone.

"You like it?" Colette asked beside me. I stared at her and she smiled once more. "I've been working all morning on that part of the wall…it's not very good, but if I keep this up, I can finish at least half of it by the end of today."

"_You _did that?" I said in amazement. Of course she did, you idiot, who else would? But, of course, I ignored the little voice and continued to gawk at the girl's work.

"Yup!" chirped Colette.

Then I really stopped to take a good look at her. Her hair was tied in one long braid at the nape of her neck, probably to make sure paint didn't get into it. Her clothes were fairly old, splattered with fresh, white paint. My stomach knotted in unease. "Colette, are you sure you should be working outside? After all, what about your…"

For once, a slight frown tugged at her lips. "I'm _fine, _Lloyd. Didn't I say that already?" Her expression lightened up. "Besides, it's pretty cool today—I'm sure being outside wouldn't hurt."

"Does the theater manager know about this?" I asked.

She put her finger to her lips. "Nope! It's a surprise."

"But why—"

"Zelos said that, if someone were to make the theater look nicer, then more people would come, right? Well, I want to help them out a bit."

But what good would painting an alley wall do? Aside from making that side look nice, but hardly anyone came into this alley anymore, seeing as it was prime Desian turf. "I'm not sure this will work," I warned.

Colette gave me a stubborn smile. "Of course it will, Lloyd. Now, I should get back to painting—it's nearly the afternoon and my father is expecting me back at four."

As she headed off to the pile of paint cans stacked neatly against one of the trash bins, I stood there dumbly with no clue what to do. I knew that that was my cue to leave…but, for some reason, I didn't seem to want to go.

Then, as she began to paint with large, exaggerated arm waves, I sighed, walking over and placing my bags on top an empty crate so no rats could chew on them. "You're doing it wrong," I informed her, picking up an extra brush from the paint can. Ignoring her surprise, I said, "Trying to cover all of the wall and using big strokes tires you out more quickly—concentrate on one spot and use smaller strokes, so you get an evener coat."

"Oh…" Colette tried for herself. "Like this?"

"Yeah, just like that."

And then she smiled.

**00000**

"Wow! I can't believe how much we got done! I never imagined for most of the wall to be painted over by this afternoon."

"That's because you were trying too hard to paint fast," I said, trying to juggle my grocery bags into a more comfortable position. Colette had insisted for us to leave all the paint behind in the alley. I wanted to argue, but as soon as she dragged out a tarp from behind the trashcans, showing that she had actually thought it through, I shut up. "If you just paced yourself a bit," I continued, "you could have easily finished the wall without me."

Colette gave a goofy, apologetic smile. "I'm sorry. But it was nice for you to stop by and lend me a hand—it must have really been a burden for you. Are your groceries alright?"

"I think so…" I glared at the bags out of the corner of my eye. "There was nothing perishable in there…and I don't think any rats got in it." Oh yes, I made sure of _that_.

The girl giggled, and another silence fell as we approached the space between our mailboxes. "Thanks again for walking me home. You didn't have to stay all the way with me—I could have managed."

I shrugged as best I could with groceries weighing down my arms. "No problem, really. Dirk works on painting projects often and I help every once and a while—I'm used to it."

"Really?" Colette's eyes sparkled in interest, but she seemed to stop herself from asking anymore. "Well, I shouldn't keep you. Bye, Lloyd!"

"Uh, yeah, bye." As she split off to go to her house, I headed off to mine, trying to focus back on the groceries and what to say to Dirk when he asked me why in the world I was late. I put my bags down on the porch and, very slowly, opened the door to my house.

"ARF, ARF!"

"Noishe!" I yelled, trying to keep myself from falling backwards for the second time this afternoon. But it was kinda hard, with a waist high dog prancing about your legs. "Stop it!"

"Noishe, come here." The dog whined, but reluctantly padded back inside the house, where Dirk was ready and waiting to take hold of his collar if needed. He looked up at me with his eyes crinkled in a smile. "Welcome back. Need help with those groceries?"

"That'd be nice," I said breathlessly—carrying those things had done nothing good for my arms. Dirk nodded and helped me drag the groceries into the kitchen.

"So why are you home so late?" Dirk asked, emptying the food out onto the counter. "I expected you to come home hours ago."

I grinned sheepishly. "Uh, got caught up with something. Don't worry—I didn't have milk or anything like that, so nothing spoiled."

"I would hope not," Dirk chided, scrutinizing each and every little package.

My expression drooped. "Do you _have _to do that?"

Dirk chuckled, placing the loaf of bread he had picked up back down on the counter. "Sorry. Force of habit; I have to make sure you didn't pick up another batch of moldy items. So, did you have fun with whatever you did?"

I was about to protest that that had only been one time, but stopped. Did I have fun? Most of the time had been spent painting over the graffiti on the side of the theater. There were a few little conversations here and there. Colette sang some church hymns about halfway through and when I recognized some, I joined along, which wasn't often, since I barely even went to church, much less memorized the hymns, but she smiled at my efforts to join in and proceeded to teach me a few. And there was laughter. Lots of laughter—mostly when either of us messed up, but it was laughter nonetheless.

I gave another careless shrug. "It was okay."

Feeling Dirk's doubting stare, I sighed. "Yeah," I said with more conviction. "It was fun."

He seemed satisfied with that.

**00000**

"Are you sure you want to come with me again?" Colette looked at me in slight concern. "You helped me so much yesterday…and it won't take too long to finish."

I shook my head. I was wearing my work clothes today—despite my initial thoughts to just slack off with the others today, I felt more obliged to help Colette finish the wall. "It's alright," I said for the umpteenth time today. "Like you said, it won't take too long. Besides, I want to finish our wall as much as you do."

Wait, when did it become _our _wall? Colette said nothing of it, but out of the corner of my eye, I saw a strange, satisfied smile crossing her face.

Then, as we turned the corner into the alley, I froze in my tracks. What I saw filled me with repulsion and rage. Sprayed in bright, bold bubble letters, all over our hard work, were the words: FUCK YOU. I heard Colette's breath hitch and saw her hands fly up to her mouth. "Oh…"

"Damn them!" I cursed loudly and stomped my foot so hard, the ground shook. "Damn those Desians." My hands were balled up into fists at my sides as the bright letters began to burn my eyes. "Once I get my hands on them, I'll—"

"Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice."

I looked at her in surprise and felt no anger radiating from the girl. Despite my rage, Colette's face was the image of calm. "Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you._"_ She looked at me and said calmly, "Ephesians, chapter four, verses thirty-one and thirty-two."

Then, walking over to the tarp where we had hidden all of our paint equipment, she took out the cans and brushes and, with a cheerful hum, began to paint over the bright red letters.

Watching her from afar, all my anger faded away. The tension left my shoulders, leaving me standing there numb and unable to move. How could she forgive them so easily? How could she not be angry? I watched for a moment longer, trying to see if the answer could be found in her movements. But there was none—just normal, happy Colette. Then, with a lot of effort on my part, I strode over, took my spot next to her and began to paint.

**Cont…**

**00000**

**A/N: **Whaa! It took forever to write this chapter . Not because it was difficult to write (quite actually, I managed to pour this whole thing out in a few hours once I decided what I was going to write oOU) but because I had a major writer's block after the Chocolat scene. I'd like to thank my betas again for taking the time to read this (especially my friend, Mira-chan, who did most of it during her trip) and I hope you enjoyed it!


End file.
